


Apology to My Kind

by jaded_spork



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Chrobin - Freeform, EVERYONE is here - Freeform, Male My Unit | Reflet | Robin, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, a bit of Robin/Henry, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-06-26 06:01:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15657207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaded_spork/pseuds/jaded_spork
Summary: Mers were devilish creatures to killed on sight, and Robin had only ever read about them in books. Killing meant nothing to him at the end of the day. He was human, they were mers, natural enemies to hell and back. But it takes only takes a bit of water to rock a boat.





	1. Grow some sea legs

The sky was clear that day. The blue looked so sharp and the clouds looked almost fake, to perfect to be true. The clouds made way for the beating sun that never let up on the small desert island. The Beauty from above starkly contrasted with the ugly sea.

The waters were hideos. A deep endless pit of pure darkness, appearing to have the consistency of sludge. Nobody knew what lurked within its depths, and few cared to find out. It provided a cruel sort of protection for the inhabitants. The black waters formed rapids and whirlpools all around, except at one point of the island. Only the most ambitious of sailors stayed around to find the port.

And those sailors were rewarded. Such as the captain of this ship in particular. He had passed by the island on many occasions, and each time he made an attempt to find an opening. And finally after seven long years he made it.

And his reward? Countless rare items, some he’d never even seen… and a child.

Now to be fair it wasn’t a child, it was in fact a young man. But this particular man was small in stature and build, his skin looked sickly and weak, the last person you’d want on a voyage.

As the ship set it’s sales once again the captain lead the man below deck. 

“What’s your name kid?” He asked even if he really didn’t care. This was just one of those throw away crew members.

“Robin sir- ah Captain!” The white haired man answered clumsily, he almost fell at his own mix up. His excitement didn’t leave though, in fact he became more invigorated. 

“Right right, so tell me why did your father practically throw you at me? What are your talents, and do you mind sharing a sleeping quarters? That last one isn’t really a choice but I’d rather not have more fights break out than usual.” He stopped right outside a door and grimace.

Robin spared the door a curious glance, he wondered what was behind that caused the captain discomfort. “Well my father promised to let me off that island, so I tricked him into a bet and won. I don’t know why he was so eager to let me go though, he usually keeps me in all day. I-I’ve read up a lot of things on ships, I think if you keep me out of the kitchen I’ll be adequest at most tasks. And I find I get along with most people, so sharing a room won’t be a bother.”

The captain nodded as he pushed open the door. “Well settle in, the young man in there will show you the ropes. Just don’t caused any trouble, okay?”

“Certainly!” Robin nodded but the captain didn’t stay for an answer. He paid no mind to it, being ignored was something he’d grown accustomed to. His excitemt was now drawn to the young man in the room.  
But when he stepped the room was empty. There was a bunk on one side, the top blankets strewn about. He assumed his roommate had claimed that spot already. There was a large desk collecting dust under the window, which was wide open and had a murder of crows perched on the sill. The other half of the room had a few empty crates and a white sheet spread around a corner. Robin assumed it was a makeshift dressing curtain.

In fact, the closer he stared at the curtain, the more suspicious he got. There was a shadow behind it, it may have very well have been a pile of clothes and what not, but he felt otherwise.

Taking careful steps towards the curtains he quickly pulled them back tro reveal the culprit. Nothing… Now Robin was just stumped.

“Nyaha, that was a good guess I gotta admit! Most people check under the bed first!” The voice came from behind him, from the chest beside the bunk. He heard a series of clicks and the lid popped open revealing a young man around his age.

Shockingly the man had white hair much like his own, and his skin a few shades darker. Likely from the continuous exposure to sun, Robin had lived most of his life behind walls. The man wore a black cape with golden accents, and a purple inner lining. The cape collar flared out with golden eye accents, a lot like the eyes on the sleeves of Robin’s coat.

The man smiled as he crawled out of the box in a manner Robin could only describe as gruesome, no human body should move like that. The close eyed grin never leaving his face he snaked around Robin, inspecting him.

The man nodded at nothing in particular and laughed. “Nyahaha, you aren’t gonna last a day outhere! But don’t you worry, Henry, that’s me, will show newbie the ropes.” His dramatically threw his arms out and the perched crows screeched in agreement. This only amused Henry and he was swept in a conversation with them.

Blinking owlishly Robin wondered what kind of person he had ben roomed with. He was off, gave off an almost sinister aura, yet kept an innocent air around him. A true enigma and Robin would crack it. 

“Well Henry, It’s nice to meet you. I’m Robin.” This broke Henry’s conversation, but it seemed to have bothered the crows more. 

Henry on the other hand was ridiculously pleased by this bit of information. “Robin! Like a bird, crows are birds too ya know? I love birds, you’re not exactly a bird but… I guess I’ll let you into my flock!” He excitedly grabbed Robin’s hand but quickly dropped it.

Robin flinched back, just as surprised at Henry, more so even. It was magic, not that magic was new to him. Plenty of people on the island had magic, dark magic specifically. He did as well, but he was never fond of it. Feeling magic around you was the norm for a mage, but Robin always felt like the outlier. But Henry’s magic...well it was familiar.

Robin laughed awkwardly brushing off the tingling sensation still in his hand, “You’re a mage as well?” 

“Why nyes, we seem to have a bit in common.” He snickered grabbing Robin’s arm again and dragging him off. Robin was only left with a few moments to toss his bag to the floor.  
.  
.  
.

“Plegia?” Henry repeated inquisitively. He looked at Robin almost as if he had been insulted.

Robin cocked his head curiously. He had been explaining what the desert island he called home was like, of all things the name was the least worst things about it. “Yeah Plegia, why?”

Henry shrugged, the crow on his shoulder unperturbed by the movement. Funnily enough they both sat in the crowsnest, and Henry’s crows all perched around the ring.

Robin had gotten used to life at sea in the past two three. At first he found the crew members barbaric, the work far too arduous, and Henry an absolute nightmare. Safe to say he’d grown some muscle in the past years, nothing impressive but he could lift a bit of a load now. His father would have been disgusted with Robin letting loose and adopting some ‘barbaric’ habits too. He’d blame his father for that as well, the man did unknowingly hand him off to pirates.

And Henry, well Robin adjusted fastest to him. Henry was worse than his initial assumptions. Henry’s love for blood and death didn’t help him sleep at night, but Henry was surprisingly well behaved. Only killing when allowed to, and when he was Henry didn’t hold back. 

Which was perfect because the amount of battles they had faced was plentiful. They fought other pirates for the most part, and thanks to Robin’s tactical genius they had a nice winning streak. But on occasion they’d come across a deep sea beast that Robin had only read about in books. No amount of reading could ever compare to seeing it in real life, some were absolutely massive and horrific. 

But on a few rare chances they’d come across a mer. Information on them was scarce, suspiciously so. Robin initially thought that this was due to the isolation of the island, but as he grew older he was beginning to wonder who was behind it.

His books spoke sparsely of the different types of mer, but focussed mostly on their beauty and danger. Their alluring voices that made sailors mad and jump overboard. They were either painted as beautiful muses of mischief or complete monsters.  
But the books never talked about their viciousness. Because whenever one was accidently caught in their nets, they would claw and fight frantically. He’d seen some of his crew mates ripped by the bare hands at the scaled hands of a mer. Their battle roars more terrifying than even the largest beasts.

It was basically law to kill them on sight. Kill or killed by the enemy, as everyone always said. Were it any other threat he didn’t mind too much, but he always felt a pang of guilt when he slaughtered a mer. And it seemed Henry related to this because even he was less enthusiastic about it.

“Hey you brats gonna actually look out for stuff or what? You have all day to have a girl talk!” The captain yelled from the wheel.

“Boring!” Henry sang falled back. A few crows were ruffled but quickly readjusted. “Robin, use your third eye will ya?” He mocked, nudging the other with the heel of his foot.

Said man groaned as he stood up, so much for a team job. Truthfully this was easily a one man task, but Robin and Henry were two-in-one deal at this point.

Brushing aside some crows he leaned forward with his telescope for a better look. Sweeping left, nothing but water. Sweeping right, more water. “Looks good for now!”

“Laaaame!” Henry whined before snatching the telescope to see for himself. He swept all around not even actually inspecting the area. “Lame, lame, lame. This suck, where’s the blood money!”

“That’s not what blood money is Henry,and you’re not going to see anything with your eyes closed either.”

Henry ignored the last part and kept turning in circles. “Well I think it should be. I’d pay people in blood, I’d be rich by now too! Nyahah!”

Snickering Robin grabbed the man to stop the continued turn around. “Oh of course, I wouldn’t doubt that. But let’s continue on that later, time to switch shifts. Oh and don’t-”

Before he could finish Henry had already thrown himself off the edge. “Meet you at the bottom nya!”

“For Grima’s sake Henry!”


	2. A Big Catch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A particularly challenging mer is taken aboard, and Henry isn't too happy about his kill being stolen. So he'll help instead.

“How’d it get loose!”

“Throw me a sword Harv!”

“Shit, we lost the Master Carpenter!”

“Somebody kill the damn thing!”

Just hours before Robin and Henry had retired to bed after a merry party of heavy drinking and chaos. They had just sunk a foreign navy ship and had their hull full of valuables, so night of celebration was called for.

But now the night was filled with screaming barely heard above the raging waters, and melodic creams of the mer lose on the deck. The beast was like no other they had encountered before. 

This particular one was a level above the others, she was almost warrior like. She wore light gold ornaments above free-flowing fabrics of her revealing clothing. Her tail was sleek black with patches of pink and white scales speckled throughout and had more decorative fins than any others. And through this arguably flamboyant display, her purple eyes held death.

Usually, a mer on board was clunky and an easy target, but her moves were fluid and coordinated. Her ribbon-like tail snaking behind her, it was like she was performing a dance. The sword she snagged from a crew member was wielded just as gracefully as her body, but unfortunately, grace doesn’t make up for practice.

With numbers on their side, she was captured and tied to the main mast and gagged her just in case. And at that moment she was nothing more than a fearful maiden, not a trace of the precious wrath she held before.

The crew crowded around her in wonder. This was the first time they didn’t kill a mer, let alone keeping one on board. That was digging your own grave, but also an opportunity like no other. Most men kept their difference, but the brave few took a close look with the braver even going to touch her. 

“Never thought a monster could be such a beauty…” One commented they all agreed. She was beautiful, the prettiest woman that even stepped onto their boat. Admittedly few women came aboard for more than a few minutes, which left a large percent of the men desperate. But none were so desperate to try anything with a mer, but it didn’t stop a few of them from wondering.

Robin was still dazed from the alcohol and a pounding headache to boot. He rested against a crate miserably, feeling too horrible to care about the mer. 

“I told ya~” Henry sang as he rubbed circles on Robin’s back. He had warned Robin not to enter a drinking contest, but Robin was determined to win. Claiming to have a tactic for just the situation. And shockingly the man won despite being the ultimate lightweight, compared to the average pirate that is.

Robin huffed, burying his head in his arms. Headaches were bad, but mages had it the worst. The mind was a key source of magic, so a headache caused magic to somewhat malfunction, only causing more pain. Waking up in the dead of night paid him no favors. 

“C’mon sleepy bird, beddy byes for you!” Henry lifted Robin to lean onto his shoulders and lead him to their room. He settled Robin into bed carefully as if he was tucking in a child. “Sleepy time for you nyaha.”

“Thank you, Henry,” Robin managed, he was already half asleep.

“No problem, see ya!” Closing the door behind him, He just hoped Robin stayed down long enough.

By the time Henry reemerged to the deck, everyone was gone except the captain. Which made sense with the number of injuries the mer caused.

“Hi Sir, whatcha lookin’ at?!” He asked as he slid beside the man. It was clear the captain was looking at the mer, but Henry could see the gears turning in his head. “We gonna kill her or not?”

The older man shrugged, “We’ll see, but if we do I’ll send somebody to get you and your little friend.” he mused teasingly. He looked at the mer, who was still out cold, with an uneasy look. Clearly, he didn’t want to keep her onboard, but there were little options now that they had tied her down.

Henry looked up at the captain’s words, “Whaddya mean? Robin’s my best human friend so far, I don’t get you.”He thought back to his time with Robin but couldn’t think of anything out of place. He was sure Robin was his friend and not faking it, he learned how to tell if Robin was lying after all.

With an amused smile, the captain shook his head and took his leave. “I’ll check on the others; you keep an eye on ‘er if you're planning on sticking around.”

Now alone, Henry pondered on the captain’s words, not making any sense of them. But his thoughts were interrupted by groans and a small trill. Taking a step back he saw the mer was awake.

Her eyes snapped open and she glared at Henry, baring her teeth at him. A reasonable response, especially considering Henry and Robin had done the final blow, he was sure she’d remember that for a long time. Her eyes were a purple void with black slits that only continued to thin.

“Get away from me!” She screamed with tears in her eyes, she huffed trying to put on a brave front. Her tail squirmed but was ultimately tied all around.

Henry noticed the rope grating against the gills around her waist and gently adjusted them above her hip. “There, now you can breath more!” he grinned. His grin wasn’t as cheery as usual if fact Henry wasn’t all that happy with this turnout.

He was used to murdering anything and everything; it never bothered him. His parents were fishers and always forced Henry to off any mers they happened to come upon. He never minded, until later in his life when their fishing boat was destroyed in a storm. They died, not that he cared, but he survived. 

As long as mer was killed he didn’t care, but keeping one hostage was just cruel. He was held captive most of his life, but getting rid of his parents was just the cure for that. He could hardly call them as such. He wasn’t even sure which of them was his actual parent.

“Just leave will you!” The mer cried tragically, it was almost melodic. She struggled uselessly, anything in an attempt to get away from the human. 

“What’s your name?” He inquired cheerily, he was somewhat excited to meet an actual mer. Despite being half himself, he had never met another one outside of a fishing net.

“Why do you care, you’re planning on killing me anyways? She glared accusingly but didn’t dare to make direct eye contact.

Henry held his hand out, “I’m Henry! C’mon no need to be shy; I don’t bite hard enough to kill.”

She stared at the hand in confusion before looking at him again. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do, for one she was tied up. Two, she had no knowledge of human greeting customs. It wasn’t a threat, but she wasn’t calmed by Henry’s words.

“Olivia,” she simply stated. 

Henry nodded, glad about the success. “Well let’s get you outta here nyeah? Better do it now so there’s less of a caw-motion haha!” He cackled feeling at the rope, trying to find the ends.

“What?” She stared at him, more confused than ever. “You blasted me with magic, tied me up, and now you try and free me?!” her voice raised in anger, she was offended.

Henry shrugged grabbing at a knot he found. “I thought we were gonna kill you on the spot, captain usually goes for the kill. He might wanna keep you as a pet or something. Which is dumb, he should just get a crow!” With that a few caws were heard in the distance, his crows were never too far behind after all. 

She complained about the situation a bit more but Henry was too engrossed in the ropes at this point. It wasn’t long before they were all loose.

“Nyaha, all done. That took a while,” he commented offhandedly with a softer smile replacing his grin.

Stretching out, Olivia splayed her body across the deck. Henry was surprised at how big she was. Initially, he thought she was just long, but her tail was also very thick, tapering out as it approached the tail fin. 

“I’m going to drown this boat,” She stated. “I appreciate the help, but I can’t let you get any closer to my home.” She nodded to herself in determination. A bit of her confidence had come back.

Henry only laughed, “Aww man, you’re gonna kill everyone without me?!” Henry didn’t care for the crew. He used to hold a sliver of fondness for the old captain before he passed. Now there wasn’t anything holding him back. He’d just start anew once again.

Olivia shook her head in exasperation. Giving one final thanks she lumbered to the edge of the ship and jumped off.

Henry watched her go with a grin, he had no time to waste. He needed to grab his luggage catastrophe hit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter that I whipped up, and the real story is about to start soon. Anyhow here's some art of Robin and Henry being pirate mages, I gave them small redesigns too.
> 
> https://skittea.tumblr.com/post/177006522310/henry-and-robin-from-the-mer-au-that-ive


	3. Cast Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin is alone for a while, and he hates it.

Robin only managed to grab his tome when Henry dragged him out of their room. He was barely conscious, but from what Henry told him he knew he had to run. As they ran up to the deck, he realized they were the only ones out.

“Henry what’s going on?!” He didn’t get an answer but as they breached the deck he knew enough. The previously clear sky was consumed by large clouds that loomed over them, this storm was approaching unnaturally fast. It’d be only a few seconds before they were all done for.

The oddest part about the situation was the silence, the usual sounds of the sea were gone. The water was still. The only thing to be heard was a distant singing.

“C’mon Robin, we need to go.” Henry continued to drag Robin to the end of the boat. He climbed over the railings and held his hands out for Robin to grab.

Robin was still frozen in horror. He looked between the clouds and Henry. “Henry, where are we going to go? Even if we et off this ship-,” he couldn’t finish the sentence as the thought alone was too terrible. He had come out to sea to be apart of the world, but just as soon as he made it out he was going to die. All the men he’d grown to care for, some he considered kin, would die as well. 

“What about the others Henry, are we just going to leave them?” His voice wavered as he looked desperately at his friend. He knew Henry didn’t get attached to people, but the man had been with these people longer than himself. The least they could do was warn them, no matter how worthless that’d be.

Henry didn’t answer much to Robin’s fury. “Henry-”

The storm hit the ship, tearing it apart. Henry and Robin were lucky enough to be thrown off, but the strong currents carried them with the debris.

“ROBIN?!”

Was the last thing Robin heard before he was lost to the darkness.

 

A blue-haired mer swam at a mer that looked much like his father, a long sword in his hands readying a killing strike. Only to be deflected by a surge of dark magic by Validar, driving the mer back.

Validar attempted another strike but the mer evaded. The next instant Validar was reading another blow from above. 

Robin found himself being thrown back as he cast a spell, missing Validar. Why he’d attack his father, or what appeared to be, he didn't know. But he could feel the high stakes.

Validar managed a successful hit on the mer, and as he struggled to get back up Validar was summoning an attack, Robin had never seen this one before, with a triumphant cackle. “Die!” Validar yelled as he released it.

And Chrom would have if Robin didn’t intercept it with his own thunder based magic. Robin realized he’d never learned thunder magic, but that point was null at this moment.

As the white collision faded Validar stood before them, red eyes glaring in silent fury.

“This is it, Robin. Our final battle!” The blue men grinned through gritted teeth. His stance was still strong despite the blow he’d taken. “You’re one of us, no ‘destiny’ can change that. Now let’s kill this dastard and be done with this!”

Robin found himself nodding, and they charged through the currents at Validar. No hesitation on his part, Robin attacked with another burst of thunder magic countered by Validar’s dark magic, and the blue mer set the finishing blow with his sword. And with that, the man fell to the floor in dark flames.

The mer turned to him with a tired smile, but Valdar wasn’t done yet. He cast one final spell towards them, and Robin found himself taking the hit for the both of them. 

The mer gathered Robin into his arms with a frantic look in his eyes, “You alright?” He sighed in relief at Robin’s weak nod and helped him up. “That’s the end of him, “ they looked at Validar’s corpse only to see it faded with the flames. “Thanks to you we carried the day, you can rest easy now.”

At that moment was overcome by a splitting headache, his vision flashing red and a voice deep within himself calling out. He didn’t hear the rest of the words.

To his horror, Robin had plunged a rod of lightning through the mer. But worst of all was the mer’s words. 

“This is not you-you’re fault… Promise me, you’ll escape this place. Please go…” The mer sank to the ocean floor lifelessly.

 

And he laughed.

Robin jolted awake, his hands flying to his abdomen. There was nothing there but it was instinctual. His breaths were rabid as his heart beat a mile a minute, his eyes pricked with tears as they darted about.

He didn’t know what he was looking for, or why he was so scared. But he knew there were no dead bodies at his feet, which was a concerning yet immense relief. 

Taking the next few moments to calm himself, Robin took it upon himself to asses the situation:

He was alone on a small island, about the size of a small ship, hardly an island really. The small land mass was littered with debris, some that’d hopefully be of use to him. His body was littered in gashes and bruises from said debris. And worst of all, Henry wasn’t with him.

His immediate thought was that Henry simply didn’t make it, logically. But he refused to accept that and prayed that his friend’s plan, whatever it was, had worked. Henry couldn’t be taken down so easily, that was impossible, right? He truly did hope so.

“Okay, I need to focus on myself for now,” he muttered as he got to his feet. He had lost his dark tome to the waters and it didn’t seem to have gotten washed up. Even if it had, it’d have been in shreds or at least too soppy to read, Robin wasn’t sure if it had a protection seal or not. Most of the debris was worthless, just bits of the ship and a score’s worth of treasure. But he stumbled upon a sword, it was an odd sword that zigzagged and he felt lighting running through the hilt. He had seen the captain wield one similar, a Levin sword he remembered it being called. 

His sword training was minimal, but for survival, the item would be of great use. He found an old sheath and strapped it to his waist to hold his new weapon. 

Robin was growing impatient, at this point, there was little he could do. He didn't know how to survive on his own, especially if there weren’t any resources available. He couldn’t drink the sea water, lest he goes mad. And the waters were too rough to go fishing, the last thing he wanted was to be swept out again.

Soon the night fell, he was still alone, only the stars to keep him company.

 

Robin was unsure how many days he’d spent on the island. He managed a small fort built from the ship’s materials and dried out the wood to make a strong fire. He found the island was a spot for sunbathing birds, none crows, unfortunately. He’d lived on the odd birds and occasional crab and fish he managed to nab.

He was hopelessly miserable and had lost hope at this point.

“Gods, what did I do to deserve this?” He looked out at the waters, there was another storm brewing, nowhere near the magnitude of the last one though. Robin was lucky that time, but there was absolutely no way off his personal hell. Not that there were many motives to escape, he had nothing to return to at this point. He crew and best friend, gone. Hie home island, he had no idea where that was now. And on the mainlands, he’d be nothing but a street beggar at best, and a criminal to be hanged at worst.

He looked down at his bare hands, he vambraces and gloves forgotten. The strange tattoo on his hand stared back at him. For a second he thought it glowed.

“I’m going mad, “ he simply stated. He cast one more look out to sea and a thought crossed his mind. A thought only a madman would consider, but Robin was content to die alone at this point. He felt there was little to lose.

He waded into the waters for a moment up to his waist, and let his hands float just under the surface. The waves dragged him further along until he was completely submerged. 

Just considering breathing underwater was stupid, humans didn’t breath underwater only drowned.

But Robin opened his eyes, he was used to his eyes not stinging now, but the fact that he was breathing just fine scared him. He tried to scream and swim back up, but the current had already dragged him too far out and it came out as a violent garble.

Now he was choking on the water, whatever gods let him survive under the surface must have been insulted by Robin’s rejection of such o gift. Because Robin was drowning now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowza, it's been a while since the last update. But anyhow, thank you for all the people who have read this story and continue to, and to those who have left kudos. I never expected so much attention, but it sure has motivated me to keep going!

**Author's Note:**

> I've always wanted to make a mermaid au, and here I am!


End file.
